1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for keeping track of scores during a sporting game. More specifically, the invention provides an assembly including an elongated element having score indicia thereon and a slidable score marking element, which assembly resides on the frame of a tennis racquet for manipulation by a player to mark the game score as play progresses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tennis players, like many athletes, often focus more attention on their game performance than on remembering the score of a game. As a result, players may find themselves in need of a memory aid to help keep track of the score.
A scorekeeping device is therefore useful in these and other situations where a need exists for providing a player with a quick and convenient way to keep track of game scores. One solution meeting such a need is to provide a score keeping device which is mounted on a tennis racquet frame. Typically, a tennis racquet frame has a head, a throat, a shaft and a grip. The throat of the racket may be solid and integral with the shaft or, as found in many composite and metal racquets, consist of two elongated branches bridging the head to a short shaft which, in turn, immediately transforms into a grip. Whereas racquet-mounted devices known in the prior art are generally adequately structured to track the score of a game, such devices exhibit disadvantages, such as being obstructive to the use and playing qualities of the tennis racquets, heretofore not considered or addressed. Such disadvantages are particularly magnified in view of recent high-tech improvements in the composites and methods available for molding modern tennis racquets.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,122 issued on Feb. 6, 1996 to Pittner discloses a score keeping device which includes a single strip of sheet material bearing a rectangular matrix of squares of three columns bearing tennis scoring indicia for both players on the same sheet. Slidable scoring markers, being tinted translucent plastic windows, are juxtaposed over the squares to indicate the present game and set score for two tennis players or teams. The scoring markers have L-shaped fingers which are set in channels provided in the sheet material. A similar device using a slotted plate and movable buttons attached by bands to the shaft is shown in European Pat. Office Patentanmeldung No. 0 024 552 published Jul. 24, 1980.
Numerous disadvantages are incumbent with such systems. First, unlike the present invention, by providing score indicia in a multiple-columned manner on a single adhesive sheet, each device limits the maximum size of the sheet to the width and length of the shaft of a tennis racquet, thereby limiting the readable size of the score indicia. Whereas such configuration may have been suitable for the old, solid wooden-shafted tennis racquet, sheet size limitations are particularly problematic in modern racquets having shafts and open throats of reduced surface area. Second, under conditions of changing sunlight or artificial lighting, the tinted windows of the Pittner device may not consistently and desirably display the score. Finally, the scoring markers are slidably retained only by channels formed in the sheet material, which in the Pittner device is a grooved adhesive sheet material and in the European patent is a slotted plate. Such structure requires a substantial thickness of both the sheet material and the markers in order to maintain a rigidity and ruggedness of form. Such bulk added on or near the shaft of a tennis racquet is highly likely to interfere with proper racquet handling technique and adds undesirable weight and imbalance to the racquet.
Other structural variations of shaft-mounted scorekeeping devices are known. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,668 issued on Feb. 12, 1985 to Bowen, a device includes a single column of score indicia superimposed on a transparent tubular housing having sealed ends, a column of score indicia superimposed thereon, and a sliding, contrastingly-colored chip within the tubular housing capable of being repositioned by a pinching action, whereby a bulge of the tubular housing is created to emphasize the score. U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,098 issued on May 25, 1982 to Rubano discloses a tennis score keeping device having ratchet teeth, a plastic panel and frame, and plastic arrows. U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,544 issued May 13, 1980 to Popma describes a series of elastic bands having scoring indicia which slip onto the shaft above the grip of a racquet, operated by rotating the bands about the shaft to a predetermined location where an indicator dot represents which score indicia on the band is to be read to correctly identify the score. A solution avoiding the attachment of a scorekeeping device to the shaft is suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,595 issued Oct. 30, 1979 to Sewell, which describes a tennis tally board adapted to be attached to the butt end of the grip.
Because a tennis player often grasps his racquet at different portions of the shaft during a game, each of these noted devices may permit unintentional movement of the movable elements and, more undesirably, are often limited to placement on the shaft as a retrofit device, which can interfere with the player's stroke technique. Moreover, most of such devices add undesirable mass and volume to a tennis racquet which adversely affect the playing characteristics of a racquet, such as its weight and balance. Any outwardly protruding bodies of such devices are further vulnerable to damage or dislocation during the course of a game, especially if the racquet is dropped or propelled into an object.
Numerous other less relevant structures have been proposed to aid in tracking a tennis score. U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,565 issued Jul. 28, 1992 to Herbertz describes an electronic scorekeeping watch. U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,449 issued Apr. 19, 1988 to Droz describes a base with three slots arranged in a U-form along which a cursor is moved, such base being capable of attachment to the strings of a racquet. Each of U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,215 issued Dec. 10, 1985 to Petersson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,342 issued Jun. 19, 1979 to Scruggs, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,910 issued Aug. 21, 1979 to Feiler describe an absorbent wrist band and counter device showing score indicia and markers which are relocated about the wrist band. U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,895 issued Nov. 9, 1982 and UK Pat. Application No. 2 053 003 published Feb. 4, 1981, both by Nightingale, describes a score board with engaging markers having plunger activated features. French De Brevet D'Invention No. 79 08001 dated Mar. 6, 1981 describes a spring-loaded ball and detent assembly integrally formed within the grip.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a need still exists for an unobtrusive device which enables a player to easily keep score of a tennis match.